The European Researchers’ Night is an initiative promoted by the European Commission which has been running since 2005, and sees the participation of thousands of research institutions across Europe every year. The project is funded by the European Community under the Marie Sklodowske-Curie actions, with the aim of promoting the careers of researchers in Europe.
Society reAGIAMO is a project that has brought the European Researchers’ Night to Ferrara, and other parts of Italy, for the past 3 years. Researchers at University of Ferrara (UniFE) working on the EU FET Open PRIME project took part in this innovative event recently, held at Piazza Castello on 27th September 2024, with activities taking place from 6pm until midnight!
Researchers met audiences of all ages to showcase their work and to spread the scientific culture and knowledge of people who dedicate themselves to research on a daily basis, in an informal and stimulating context. In the courtyard of the Estense Castle there were educational workshops and experiments demonstrated to fascinated girls and boys. Exhibitions and guided tours of the research centres were given and live scientific demonstrations were delivered throughout popular seminars, organised by UniFE researchers.
Research on stage
During the event on stage at Piazza Castello, UniFE experts addressed the latest frontiers of research and tackled conversations about contemporary topics in the research community, such as Artificial Intelligence, new technological challenges, chronobiology, particle physics and archaeology, as well as streaming a live connection from excavations taking place at the Appian Way in Rome.
Researchers from UniFE presented some aspects of their research from the EU FET Open PRIME project at the event. PRIME’s grand vision is to develop an autonomous implantable living cell system with engineered bio-computing logic gates that, compute, and actuate epileptic seizure suppression. These cells will be implanted into the brain and will co-exist with natural neural tissue.
The PRIME team at UniFE team is led by Dr Michele Simonata, PhD, whose team includes Dr Marie Soukupova, PhD, Dr Silvia Zucchini, PhD, and Dr Barbara Bettegazzi, PhD.
Overall, the PRIME project is led by Walton Institute at South East Technological University in Ireland, with vital European consortium partners made up of University of Ferrara Italy, Tampere University Finland, EPOS-IASIS Cyprus, Aarhus University Denmark, Omiics ApS Denmark and Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) Ireland.
